The Deal

Jimmy had been living off of Monster energy drinks and gummy worms for the last three months. It was the only thing that he seemed to be able to stomach on his drive to work. 

It was his drug of choice.

He had been working at his current job for a little over a year. He worked in customer support for a large retail company, and spent his nights reading through customer emails. Providing answers to dumb questions. And some of these customers asked the dumbest questions. 

“How come these jeans don’t have the Levi logo on them?”
Because they aren’t Levis, sir. You bought a knock off brand- Levys.

“Why isn’t my package here yet?”
You must complete the order, m’am. After that, most orders arrive in 2 to 5 days.

“How do I know if the light is helping with my seasonal depression?”
You probably will feel less depressed, depending on the season.

Of course, Jimmy’s answers were much kinder than what he really wanted to say. With the amount of eyes on his emails, anything less than formal would cost him his job.

Which, at this point, didn’t seem like the worst thing in the world. 

Jimmy had been answering questions for so long, that outside of work hours, he didn’t bother speaking most days. He would talk to his fiance, of course. But outside of that, the thought of talking to people made his stomach turn. He had seen the most ridiculous side of society, and he damn near took a vow of silence because of it.

Jimmy started the job during the pandemic, when the world was falling apart. Jimmy and his fiance thought this new job at the retail giant was a blessing. He could work from home and actually afford to have a family. Not long after, his wife had gotten pregnant.

But mere months after he was hired, the leaders of the company decided that the world wasn’t actually falling apart that bad, and that he should be in office. How else would he really get to understand the customer if he wasn’t around people?

Jimmy didn’t know how, if he was ever asked, he could explain that responding to emails in the middle of the night alone in a corporate office helped him understand customers better.

Not to mention that he had to drive an hour to the office in order to do this.

Was there a closer office to his home? Of course there was. But he couldn’t work at that one because…

His director couldn’t really explain why he couldn’t work at that office.

And so for the last three months, Jimmy would leave his home at 9 at night, arrive at 10, and work for 5 hours responding to customer emails. The same thing he had been doing previously. 

But now in a more fluorescent flavor. 

Though Jimmy was looking for other work, he knew that the job market was garbage at the moment. Which meant that to continue to support his fiance and their soon-to-be family, he would be making nightly trips for the time being. At least until he could do something else.

His greatest fear wasn’t being poor. He and his wife had grown up in Oarlito, and things had been rough at times. So poor he could handle. What Jimmy was really afraid of was being a terrible father. Not being able to connect with his son and really be there for him- that was something that kept him awake most nights. More than any scary story or movie could. And he knew it was because of his own childhood and growing up not really connecting with his dad. It wouldn’t take much to be a better dad than his ghost of a father.

But it didn’t stop him from thinking about it constantly.

It wasn’t all bad. The hour drive to and from the office gave him plenty of time to listen to audio books. And the office was empty, which meant he was able to work in solitude. 

Jimmy had just finished up an email to a particularly confused customer (No, sir, you can’t charge your neighbor for something you want to purchase for him), when he heard the door chirp. It was the sound a door would make in the office when you waved your badge to get in.

Jimmy glanced up, a bit surprised that someone would be coming in this late (or early?). 

Nobody had come through the door closest to his desk, which meant it must have been the door on the other side of the hallway. Jimmy turned his music down and watched the corner, waiting to see who it was. Security could be making their rounds, something they did occasionally while he was in office. 

But the room remained silent, and after about two minutes Jimmy returned to his work. Having decided that the last email was all he could take, he started closing out his laptop. 

Beepbeep. 

Jimmy shoved his laptop into his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. 

Weird, maybe security had decided to make rounds after all? 

As he walked towards the corner to check on security, the silence was broken by a crackling sound, like fire wood burning.

Fuck, a fire? 

Jimmy picked up his pace and right as he turned the corner, he heard the sound of the door clicking shut.

The room was empty. No security, no fire. Nothing except a light scent in the air, of something he couldn’t quite place.

Welp. I’ve seen enough movies to know NOT to go check that shit out. 

He turned and walked towards his usual door, and stopped.

Jimmy’s desk sat in a corner of the room on the second floor, with half of the room windows facing the parking lot and half of them facing a courtyard front of the building. The company had an open floor plan with desks grouped together for agile seating. It was meant to “encourage open discussions and collaboration” between employees. He had spent many hours here alone, staring out into the darkness of the courtyard. He spent so much time staring out into the courtyard that he would see it when his eyes closed. Which is why Jimmy had stopped. 

He could see from the light from the moon that the courtyard wasn’t empty. 

As Jimmy creeped to the door, he saw a figure seated on one of the courtyard sofas, it’s back facing Jimmy. He perched in front of a ceramic fire pit, glass glinting in the firelight.

Jimmy’s stomach felt hot. It was partly because of the time, and because it was out of routine for Jimmy. Things that were out of routine always threw him off. But it was also because Jimmy had already realized something. 

To get to his car, Jimmy had to cross the courtyard where the figure now sat. 

He took a deep breath, swiped his badge and began down the hallway towards the stairs. 

Part of him still hoped that maybe he wasn’t quite awake. That happened to him sometimes, when he lived on auto pilot. Just going through the motions. It felt like he was living life through his peripherals.

But as Jimmy badged out of the stairs and walked toward the lobby, he could see the figure seated in front of the fire pit.

Jimmy took a deep breath, swiped his badge, and walked through the door. The cold air felt fresh on his face, and he shivered a bit- not all from the cold.

The walkway continued thirty feet past the entrance before it forked: Left to the parking lot, and straight to the courtyard, where the figure sat. As Jimmy approached the fork, a raspy voice cracked the silence: 

“Burning the midnight oil?”

Jimmy saw that the figure was in his early fifties, slim and well dressed. He wore charcoal colored slacks and a black button up shirt, under a dark jacket. 

“Yeah, staying busy. Gotta pay the bills, you know. …have yourself a good night, now.” 

Jimmy took a step to the left, the low sound of traffic buzzing from the freeway. He wasn’t sure why, but he stopped. 

“You… you doing okay? Don’t mean to be weird, but it’s a bit strange to be posted up at this time. It’s cold, I’m sure you got better places to be.”

The figure’s eyes squinted through a half smile.

“No. This is where I’m meant to be. Come, pull up a chair.”

“I wish I could man, but I have to head out of here. Gotta make it home in time to get some rest before I get the kids up.” 

Jimmy had grown comfortable lying. It was the easiest way to avoid social interactions. The idea of having to converse with people made him sweat.

“You don’t have any kids. Not yet, anyways.”

The way the figure said kids made his mouth go sour.

“Alright man, you got me. I don’t have kids. But I'm gonna be honest with you, I have no interest in chatting it up. You look like you got your shit together, and that’s great. But I’m too tired and too broke to buy whatever it is you're selling. No offense.”

The figure chuckled. 

“You would be right to call me a salesman. But seriously, have a seat. We won’t be long.”

The man spoke in a way that Jimmy found hard to walk away from. Though he wanted to get into his car and go, a part of him wanted to have this conversation- whatever it was.

“I’m telling you, I can’t buy whatever you're selling.”

Jimmy grabbed a chair and brought it next to the fire pit.  As he sat, the smell of dust and sandalwood filled his nostrils. And something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. 

Something earthy?

The figure interrupted his thought.

“I told you that I was a salesman. I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life, and all of them require you to sell. I’m sure even in your work, you sell.”

“I work in customer support, mostly answering. It’s not interesting, but it pays the bills. Especially with all the money I spend on my fake kids.” Jimmy chuckled awkwardly, hoping the sound would ease his nerves. 

It didn't. 

“You hear those cars, driving down the freeway?”

Jimmy heard the low hum of traffic, and could see the freeway from where he sat.

“Each one of those cars is heading to a destination that I chose for them.” 

A cool breeze whipped at the sweat on Jimmy’s neck.

“Should I decide, those people might arrive at their destination sooner than they expected.” 

The figure smiled, a movement that made Jimmy feel dizzy. As he sucked in another breath of air, Jimmy felt uncomfortable- but he wasn’t sure why. 

Jimmy realized that he no longer heard any traffic. 

“I am giving you a choice tonight. I’m going to leave, in just a moment. But not before I make you an offer. After I leave, you can choose to get in your car and drive home. You can get into bed, kiss your wife as you rub her legs until you fall asleep. And you’ll wake up and do it again. Maybe you’ll forget this ever happened, that it was just a dream.” 

Jimmy looked at the figure across the fire pit, feeling no warmth. 

“You will find moments of happiness, but most of your life you will be numb. You will live your life as a spectator. You will never be of substance- not to your wife, nor to your two children. I am not  forcing this onto you- I am simply telling you how your life unfolds. You know this to be true.”

Jimmy felt the world spinning, and he gripped the chair to keep from toppling over. The figure paused for a moment, and reached into the breast pocket of the coat. A small flash glinted in the moon. 

For the first time, Jimmy noticed the moon was full.

Weird, I didnt think we were expecting a full moon. I should have known that the crazys would be out.

The figure reached across the fire pit and set a small black switch blade next to Jimmy's knees. The figure remained unbothered by the heat.

“Or, you can take this knife. Open the blade, and trace the longest seam on your right palm. No need to press too hard, let the knife do the work. After that, go home and sleep. You will wake up tomorrow, and things will come easy. You will find success in all that you do, and you will be a good man to those you love. But-”.

The figure paused, eyes glinting in the moonlight.

“We will meet again. At some point, while you are driving to some destination, you will realize that you are no longer driving to your destination.”

The sound of traffic in the night became louder. A car screeched in the background.

“You are driving to mine. And you are no longer at the wheel.“

Jimmy stared at the blade. 

“And you will not like the destination.”

Jimmy’s skin crawled. He shifted his leg, spilling his bag over. Jimmy jumped, and reached over to pick up his stuff, thankful to break the moment. As he turned to look at the figure, he saw that the figure was gone. 

Jimmy sat in the empty courtyard, clutching his bag. He could see the small blade on the edge of the firepit. As he glanced around, his unconsciously reached out to steady himself.

Jimmy took a deep breath, waiting for the world to get steady before he headed to the parking lot. His hand rested on his leg, numb. 

A small wet spot appeared beneath his palm.